Jaunts For The Jaded: Black Tie In The Bush, Ride In A New `Old

Train`

February 24, 1985|By Judy Williamson, Dallas Morning News.

The traveler looking for something new and different in 1985 might consider an African safari where the nightly dinner in the African bush is a black-tie affair, or an all-new luxury train trip through the Scottish Highlands.

The two itineraries are among the latest offerings by Abercrombie & Kent International Inc., now in its 22d year of providing custom-tailored vacations to remote, exotic destinations throughout the world.

According to A&K president Alistair Ballantine, the adventure travel company is continually on the lookout for unusual trips such as these.

Among the better-known A&K veterans, he said, are the Rockefellers, Firestones and Pillsburys, as well as Richard Chamberlain, Michael Landon, Richard Pryor, Lee Meriwether, Erma Bombeck and Linda Ronstadt.

Ballantine said the debut of the new Royal Scotsman is of particular interest for esthetic and historical reasons.

Patterned after the Orient Express, South Africa`s Blue Train and other luxurious nostalgia trains, the Royal Scotsman will be composed of vintage train cars, including the oldest railway dining car in use in the world today. That car, built in 1891 for the London and North Western Railway, will be used as the Scotsman`s dining car.

Similarly, the Scotsman`s new observation car originally was built in 1892 for the Caledonian Railway, while its proposed day car was built in 1912 for the Great Northern Railway. All have been refurbished.

Ballantine said the Royal Scotsman, unlike some of the other luxury trains presently in operation in Europe, will be fully air-conditioned. He also said some of the private compartments, ``double the size of any we have in Europe,`` will include a private bathroom, also rare among the nostalgia trains.

The new train is scheduled to begin service May 15 and will run through late September, Ballantine said. The proposed itinerary is divided into two three-day tours of Scotland, the Southern and the Northern, or a six-day tour, which takes in both.

Rates are $1,340 a person for a three-day tour, with a $480 supplement for private bath. The six-day tour costs $2,380 a person, with $880 supplement for private bath.

The prices include accommodations, all sightseeing excursions and three meals daily, plus wine and all alcoholic and other beverages.

In addition to the luxury safari, other specialty African itineraries for `85 include gorilla tracking in Rwanda, Wings over Kenya (a luxury air safari), an African hinterland safari and a trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro.

There`s something for everyone, Ballantine said. Prices range from $985 for 11 days to $4,000-$5,000 for two weeks.